Let’s go to the future.
The first three entries in this franchise can at least provide a bit of cheap fun. With our fourth entry, things take a drastic turn for the worse. Some spoilers ahead.
The first major issue here is the budget has obviously been reduced. The werewolves in particular look more like they belong in a videogame than in a movie. It is odd to see a series degrade with visual effects over time when they all had theatrical releases. Aside from our wolves, the rest of the effects look rubbery and blurry. The camera doesn’t let you get a great look at most of the action, and in the frantic nature of things it can be seen that corners were cut.
Scott Speedman decided to not return, so we get some stock footage and a body double for his brief time, and it looks horrible. Without his character it becomes increasingly odd to have the series continue…
Selene tries to escape with Michael after the humans begin purging all werewolves and vampires. After an explosion, she awakes twelve years later in a lab and has a mysterious connection to a child. What does it all mean? Nothing.
Humans freaking out and trying to genocide different species might be the most realistic part of this series, but how did humans stand a chance? The werewolves seem sometimes indestructible (unless a main character is fighting them, then they are made of cobwebs and toothpaste), and the vampires are also insanely powerful. How both races were completely rolled over isn’t explained well enough here, nor is the last-minute twist that tries to bring it all back together.
There isn’t much of a discernible story as we follow Selene from gunfight to gunfight. While I am certain there are a contingent of fans who just wanted more action, anyone interested in the lore of the world won’t get anything new here.
I want to call this film a disaster, but that seems too generous. This is slapdash filmmaking done only to churn out another money-maker, and it did. The fact that there is another one of these movies (our next review) tells me this one did well enough to greenlight a sequel (though it does seem that one killed the franchise).
Perhaps we should call this nonsense cinema. It is just a repetitious series of action sequences with Hot Topic set design. The weirdest part is that I watched the movie about three hours ago and I can remember nothing about it. A complete void of creativity.
Maybe we’ll someday get a decent werewolf or vampire flick (or at least a good one more than once every twenty years). Folks starved for some gothic action should look at the first three, but those will disappoint you in many ways as well. Avoid this one like the plague.
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